New York: Unprecedented massive winter storm continues to strike much of the US with heavy winter weather – leading to at least 37 deaths nationwide – parts of western New York have been buried by up to 43 inches of snow, leaving vehicles stuck and power out for thousands during the Christmas weekend.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul told that the storm is the “most devastating in Buffalo and heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions made roads impassable with zero visibility, froze power sub-stations and left at least 17 people dead as of Sunday night. Western New York is drowning in thick “lake effect” snow – which forms when cold air moves over the warm waters of the Great Lakes – just one month after the region was slammed with a historic snowstorm. As rescue crews and hundreds of plow drivers fanned out on Christmas Day, even emergency and recovery vehicles sent out to help have gotten stuck in the snow and eleven abandoned ambulances were dug out. “We had to send specialized rescue crews to get the rescuers,” Mark Poloncarz, the executive of Erie County told and added that it was the worst storm he could remember. “It was just horrendous, and it was horrendous for 24 hours in a row.”
“We’re used to snow here, we can handle snow,” he said. “But with the wind, the blinding views – it was complete whiteouts – and the extreme cold, it was some of the worst conditions that any of us have ever seen.” Many of New York’s weather-related fatalities were in Erie County, where some people were found dead in cars and on the street in snowbanks, Poloncarz said Sunday. Deaths reported in Buffalo “are people found outside and in cars,” a Buffalo Police statement read. Hundreds of National Guard troops have been deployed to help with rescue efforts in New York.
State police had been involved in over 500 rescues by Sunday, including delivering a baby and helping a man with 4% left on his mechanical heart, the governor said. “We’re still in the throes of this very dangerous life-threatening situation,” Hochul said, urging residents to stay off the roads as a driving ban remains in place in Erie County through Monday.
As blistering blizzard conditions swept the region, about 500 motorists found themselves stranded in their vehicles Friday night into Saturday morning, according to Poloncarz, who described frightening conditions on the road.
A holiday traveler looks at flight information at the Detroit Wayne County Metro Airport on December 24 in Detroit. Winter Storm Elliot swept over much of the midwest on Friday and Saturday, dropping temperatures to single digits and windchills up to -35 degrees Fahrenheit and severely impacting travel throughout the US. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images). Over 1,300 US flights canceled the day after Christmas
“Think about looking just a few feet in front of you at a sheet of white for more than 24 hours in a row. That’s what it was like outside in the worst conditions,” he said. “It was continual blizzard and whiteouts such that no one could see where they were going. Nobody had any idea what was happening.”
While abandoned vehicles pepper the snow-covered roadways – with hundreds of cars still along the streets of Buffalo – conditions are also difficult inside homes. Some residents have remained in their homes for the last 56 hours, some without power in the freezing cold, Hochul said during the news conference. This is not due to a lack of resources, the governor said, but rather a mobility and access challenge faced by utility companies. Much of the rest of the eastern part of the country will still be in a deep freeze through Monday before a moderating trend sets in on Tuesday, forecasters said.